Watching Over You
by ChoCedric
Summary: As Harry stares into the Mirror of Erised, Lily and James look on from the afterlife, tears in their eyes and pain in their hearts. "I'm sorry we had to leave you, sweetheart, but I hope you know we love you," Lily whispers.


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Watching Over You

By: ChoCedric

Lily and James Potter sat in a huge, sunny garden, staring fixedly through a glass opening. Pain filled their hearts as they gazed at their living son, staring through a glass of his own. Harry was looking at the Mirror of Erised, at the two people he knew he'd never see again.

Lily had tears in her eyes, and James put an arm around her as he fought tears of his own. "It's okay, Lil," he whispered. "He's going to be okay."

"I just hate this," Lily said, soft sobs starting to shake her body. "I-I hate that we had to leave him. Look at him, he's so innocent. I want him here as much as he wants us there."

"I know, honey, but I'm sure he knows we're always watching over him," James said, smiling gently. "I'm so glad he's finally at Hogwarts."

Another sob seized Lily as anger began to grow on her face. "I don't know what Dumbledore was thinking, sending him to Petunia," she snarled. "She didn't care for him like an aunt should. And her husband's a nasty piece of work."

"I know, love," James whispered, his heart aching. "But Dumbledore only did what he thought was best. I know he didn't do it to harm Harry."

"Sirius," Lily said brokenly, and the scene suddenly shifted. Through the glass they could now see a thin, emaciated man, sobbing his heart out in a dark, dank cell. "It isn't right," she said, taking a deep, shuddering breath.

"I know. I wish Pads could know that we don't blame him," James said. He tried to put his hand through the glass, but he failed. "Please don't cry, buddy," he murmured, hoping in vain that Sirius could somehow hear him.

The scene then shifted back to Harry, and they could now see Dumbledore in the room with him. They were talking about the mirror, and James and Lily's hearts soared as they saw his young, innocent face smiling at the Headmaster.

"I'm so glad he's getting along so well in his classes," James smiled. "I hope he doesn't cause as much mischief as I did."

"You'd better hope that, James Potter," Lily scowled, but a smile then broke out on her face too. "Ron and Hermione seem to be great friends for him, though, especially Hermione."

"She reminds me a little of you," James joked.

"Is that a compliment, an insult, or an observation?" Lily asked, her expression calculating.

"Oh, just an observation," James said lightly as Harry, on the other side of the glass, said to Dumbledore, "What do you see when you look in the mirror?"

James chuckled as Dumbledore gave the answer about socks, tightening his arm around Lily.

Then, Dumbledore explained that the mirror would be moving tomorrow and that Harry shouldn't seek it out again. The two parents' hearts were heavy as they saw that their son tried to hide the pain he felt at not being able to see the two people that loved him.

"Dumbledore's right, honey," James murmured into his wife's hair, peppering kisses along her face. "Harry has to live in the present, not the past. We're not with him, but there's nothing any of us can do. I hope he knows, though, that we're proud of him."

A few more tears fell out of Lily's emerald eyes into James's messy hair. "I hope he knows, too," she whispered.

Over the next few months, Lily and James Potter continued to watch over their son. "I wish he didn't have so much of my genes," James sighed as he watched Ron, Hermione, and Harry try to solve the mystery of the Philosopher's Stone. "I don't want him getting hurt."

Lily nodded, fear pounding inside her. Oh, what she would give to embrace him, to be near him, for emerald eyes to meet emerald eyes as they were reunited. But at the same time, she and James had given their lives so that Harry would live, and they wanted him to live his to the fullest.

They leaned on each other for support during Harry's confrontation with Professor Quirrell. When the man began to burn, Lily gasped.

"Oh Merlin," she cried as Harry collapsed, magically exhausted but holding the red stone in his hand. "Oh Merlin, he's done it, James."

"He couldn't have done it without you, Lil," James said softly, tears in his hazel eyes. "You protected him with your love."

During the three days Harry was unconscious, he came extremely close to death. His parents could almost reach out and touch him, and they longed to take him, but they knew it wasn't his time yet. So they looked on as his friends gathered around him, and Madame Pomfrey battled to save his precious life.

When he finally awoke, Dumbledore was at his bedside, and he explained how Lily's magical protection worked. James held his wife close as Harry looked, teary-eyed, at the Headmaster.

"Now he knows," James said, stroking Lily's hair again. "Now he knows we love him."

"I'm so sorry we had to leave you, sweetheart," Lily said, putting her face as close as she could to the glass. "I know sometimes you may be angry with us, because you think we abandoned you. But we do love you, Harry, with all our hearts."

And they knew, from then on, that Harry was in good hands. They would continue to watch him grow up, raining their love upon him. There was not much they could do now that they had crossed the veil, but they hoped Harry could sometimes feel their presence, especially when he was asleep. Lily remembered the lullaby she used to sing to him when he was a baby, and there were times she would sing it as she watched Harry sleep.

And even though they missed him terribly, they did not regret for a single moment that they had given their lives for him. They hoped that he would grow to be an old man, and live a happy, thriving, successful life.


End file.
